I just don't see any possible way that you can put Marshall over Hibbing. Denfeld had 2 nice transfers that came in and Marshall is tying a Two Harbors Agate team who won 5 games last season. Everyone, figure it out.

Denfeld has two new transfers from the duluth east area, so they probably came to denfeld to play for a mediocre team. And a scrimmage is no way to measure a team.

The two transfers are actually both very solid players.

Nevertheless, Denfeld has no chance to win against hibbing/marshall. Not enough offense.

Extremely bold.. Hibbing I can give to you, but i dont know how you can say that about Marsahll

Falls could be a spoiler, but I just can't see any way you could put them ahead of the top three in 7A. Last season they were very inconsistent. They would play some close games against good teams, but then get blown out in games they shouldn't have. Hibbing won the first meeting 3-2, but the second meeting was Hibbing 7-0. Falls lost to Virginia 8-1, then beat them 2-1 later in the season. Very bipolar team.

If they find consistency this season, maybe they could be more of a threat. They likely will have to play two games in the section tourney against some combo of Hibbing/Denfeld/Marshall, and while they could pull an upset, I just don't see them winning two.

Gotta love the Howie Hanson quote at the end of the Denfeld bit. Go figure.

Not sure how he came up with the #4 spot for Greenway. In my opinion, there is zero chance they finish ahead of I Falls and not really likely they get anything higher than a six seed come playoff time. Arnason is all they really have... and they've had him back there for several years now and it hasn't equated to any wins against quality opponents.

rainer wrote:

Falls could be a spoiler, but I just can't see any way you could put them ahead of the top three in 7A. Last season they were very inconsistent. They would play some close games against good teams, but then get blown out in games they shouldn't have. Hibbing won the first meeting 3-2, but the second meeting was Hibbing 7-0. Falls lost to Virginia 8-1, then beat them 2-1 later in the season. Very bipolar team.

People also seem to forget that I Falls played the middle of their season last year with pretty much their JV-team (due to suspensions and disciplinary actions) which diluted their stats and distorted their record. This is why you see lopsided scores followed by close games against the same opponents last year. I Falls will be in the mix for sure this year.

Gotta love the Howie Hanson quote at the end of the Denfeld bit. Go figure.

Not sure how he came up with the #4 spot for Greenway. In my opinion, there is zero chance they finish ahead of I Falls and not really likely they get anything higher than a six seed come playoff time. Arnason is all they really have... and they've had him back there for several years now and it hasn't equated to any wins against quality opponents.

rainer wrote:

Falls could be a spoiler, but I just can't see any way you could put them ahead of the top three in 7A. Last season they were very inconsistent. They would play some close games against good teams, but then get blown out in games they shouldn't have. Hibbing won the first meeting 3-2, but the second meeting was Hibbing 7-0. Falls lost to Virginia 8-1, then beat them 2-1 later in the season. Very bipolar team.

People also seem to forget that I Falls played the middle of their season last year with pretty much their JV-team (due to suspensions and disciplinary actions) which diluted their stats and distorted their record. This is why you see lopsided scores followed by close games against the same opponents last year. I Falls will be in the mix for sure this year.

The difference between Howie and just about anyone who posts on this forum is that he pretends to be an objective journalist when he's really pushing an agenda. Most people on here make no claim to expertise and are up front about their loyalties. Howie, not so much.

Still, the quote may not be all that wrong--this could definitely be Denfeld's best team in a very long time. They have a 4-year starter in goal, one talented forward, and some depth thanks to a bunch of transfers, especially on defense. But we're talking about a program that hasn't been to State in my lifetime, so the goalposts aren't that high.

I'd be happy to see both Duluth public schools make a run at the state tourney. Since Denfeld is somehow still an A school, the rivalry doesn't really matter all that much. East fans shouldn't exert any energy hating on Denfeld--they have bigger fish to fry.

I had never really looked at Howie's blog before, but when I did, his preseason NE MN rankings told me all I needed to know:

1. Hermantown
2. Duluth Marshall
3. Duluth East

What!!??! This guy really believes that the #1 AA team in the state is not as good as the #3 and #13 A teams? He also uses the phrase "a very powerful Marshall team". Let's see how many NE MN teams we can name that are better than Marshall: East, Rapids, Hermantown, Hibbing, Denfeld, Cloquet.

Marshall racked up the points last night, so I guess they may be better than I thought (unless Providence is that bad). I guess we'll find out next Tue when they play Hibbing. Or even today, when they play Breck. If Marshall keeps it within three goals I'd call it a moral victory.

I am not picking on GHS. It is only a reality check. Greenway has a long way to go in order to be competitive again. I hope I have to eat those words, but nothing in their youth teams leads to suggest that they are a soon to be a top program. Greenway has less than half the enrollment that they had in their glory years. The current enrollment suggests graduating classes of approximately 70. In the 60's the graduating classes were 170 and above. I am as big a supporter of GHS as any alumni. I attended games the year that they almost eliminated the program, both home and away. I suggest you read my posts over the last 10 years before you question my loyalty.

[quote="rainier"]I had never really looked at Howie's blog before, but when I did, his preseason NE MN rankings told me all I needed to know:

1. Hermantown
2. Duluth Marshall
3. Duluth East

What!!??! This guy really believes that the #1 AA team in the state is not as good as the #3 and #13 A teams? He also uses the phrase "a very powerful Marshall team". Let's see how many NE MN teams we can name that are better than Marshall: East, Rapids, Hermantown, Hibbing, Denfeld, Cloquet.

It will be nice when the likes of STA, Benilde, and Hermantown crap all over Marshall like last year. If Howie honestly thinks that Marshall is better than Duluth East he should maybe try going to a game once in a while.